Bending of Fates
by Calamitynexus
Summary: How would the story of Avatar have changed if Ursa hadn't left Zuko behind? Starts after the Aang is thawed. AU
1. Prologue

"Dad's going to kill you." Azula drops her singsong tone, sounding more serious than one would think her capable of. "Really he is."

"Ha ha Azula. Nice try." Despite his denial of her words, Zuko pulled the bed cover closer.

"Fine. Don't believe me but I heard everything." Smug satisfaction radiated from her voice. "Grandfather said Dad's punishment should fit his crime." Her voice dropped into a lower octave. "'You must know the pain of losing a first born son, by sacrificing your own.' "

"Liar!"

"I'm only telling you for your own good." Azula's voice drips with insincere sweetness. "I know! Maybe you could find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you!"

"Stop it! You're lying! Dad would never do that to me!" Zuko growled in denial.

"Your father would never do what to you?" Ursa walked into the room. A second's evaluation revealed all she needed to know. Zuko seemed to have collapsed into himself and was staring dejectedly at the bed. Azula had her usual smile on. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know," Azula opened her eyes wide, a parody of innocence.

Ursa strode forward, grabbing her daughter's arm. "Time for a talk." She could come back and comfort Zuko later. Right now she needed to know why Azula looked so pleased, like a bearded cat playing with its prey. She dragged one child out of the room, leaving the other in silence.

Well, near silence. The echo of Azula's words swirled around Zuko like a sea serpent. He clutched desperately at the blanket, trying to use it to warm his insides. "Azula always lies. Azula always lies." It was a desperate mantra and the only thing that allowed Zuko to slip into sleep.

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"Mom?"

Zuko's eyes were still full of sleep. He began to nod back off to sleep in her hands. Ursa gently shook her son. He needed to be awake for this. "Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you." Guilt wracked her words. But she didn't have enough time to explain more than that. "Remember this Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are." This would hurt him, but it would hurt less than what Ozai had in store for the child.

"Zuko, drink this." She held the cup up to his lips.

He sputtered at the taste of the bitter liquid, as it assaulted his hazy mind. "Mmm," he moaned. "No." He weakly tried to swat the cup away.

Ursa ignored this, dumping the rest of the tainted liquid into the boy's mouth, titling his head back, forcing him to swallow. He grimaced as the last of the fluid disappeared into his mouth. "Mom," he murmured quietly, his eyes glazing over. He slumped forward into her grip.

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Lieutenant Jee watched his old friend's face with a hidden sympathy. Iroh stood as solid as a rock as his world shattered into smaller and smaller pieces. It would have been hard enough for any man to face the news that his only child was dead, but fate was cruel. The General had returned home to mourn only to discover that his nephew was missing, presumed murdered by his own mother.

And then the General's father had passed away only days after his return. And to add salt to the bleeding wounds, succession to the throne had passed on to Ozai, the younger of the brothers.

And now this.

"You must understand Iroh. There are whispers everywhere. I cannot undermine my own position by allowing you to remain here." Fire Lord Ozai sounded calm, not like a man who had lost so much in so short a period.

Iroh bowed his head deeply. "I understand brother," his gravelly voice was hoarse and laden with grief and guilt, "but do you really believe that I was involved in father's death?" Iroh's voice broke at the end of the question. Jee winced at the sound of friend's weakness, knowing how much Iroh hated being vulnerable.

The flames of the Fire Lord dimmed a little at the question. "No Iroh. I know you had nothing to do with father's death." He gave a dramatic sigh. "But with Ursa doing what she did to Zuko… I cannot keep you here."

There were bitter memories in those words. Both Iroh and Jee had heard the tale whispered in hushed voices by the palace servants. The soft fight between husband and wife, how Ursa had been seen entering her son's room with a drink, had been seen carrying the limp figure to own chambers, then had been seen at the edge of the city alone with nothing but her bag. An empty tincture of powder had been found hidden in her room. In high enough doses the drug could easily kill a grown man, never mind a small child.

The old General bowed deeply to his brother as though he could no longer stand under the weight of his own despair. "Then I accept my duty. I will find the Avatar."

"Excellent." Jee shivered at the Fire Lord's pronouncement. "A ship and supplies will be provided for you. It launches at sunset. Dismissed." Jee and Iroh bowed low, and then scurried out of the room.

Jee bit his tongue, waiting until they were far away from palace walls, far away from prying ears, before speaking in a hushed whisper. "General Iroh, you cannot be alright with this! You went from the successor to being banished! Do you honestly believe Ozai's story?" Jee ran a frustrated hand through his spiky hair. "The Avatar hasn't been seen for a hundred years. Do you honestly believe you can find him?"

Iroh shrugged, a sad determination radiating off his body. "I don't know Jee. But I owe it to him to look."

Jee just at his friend. "Iroh?"

Iroh shook himself, dragging his mind out of his plans and into back into the moment. He turned to Jee. That man worried too much. He shot his friend a tired small, then clapped his hands together. "Even if we don't find the Avatar I am sure we will find some lovely teas." And maybe the people he wished to drink it with.

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They had been happy for a while. But the fragile joy that had accompanied their new life was always darkened by the looming shadow of past they couldn't run far enough from. They had tried, never staying in one place for too long, never forming permanent attachments. It had helped. It had extended the jubilation, keeping it alive long after it should have died.

Perhaps that's why the price for it was so steep. Because they had selfishly held onto it. Yet even now, laying in a puddle, breathing in as much mud as water, he couldn't regret that.

* * *

A/N- I know this is a little weird. It needs a bit of setting up before it gets good. I also warn you that I am going to play with the episode order, but honestly if you expected me to religiously follow the story line you should know better by now. -.^

In fact, I'm playing with everything, POV, story line, etc. This story is an experiment for me, seeing if i can make it outside my writing comfort zone. That means all and any advice will be appreciated, whether positive or negative. As with all my stories, its unbetad and written at 3 am. I proof read but i miss stuff. SOrry.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

PS: Disclaimer. I don't own Avatar. If i did this would be script and not fan fic.

PPS: If anyone can think of a summary I'd appreciate it. I didn't want to write one that gave everything away. . . ]:,

PPPS: I'm sorry to all those who get author alerts from me. I got into a fight with the internet... sorry!


	2. Jet 1

I grimaced as Jet, the self appointed leader of the Freedom Fighters, jumped up onto the table to give his usual speech, glad that the shadows hid my disgust. Not that any one would have seen. All eyes were on Jet.

I couldn't help but run through the formula as Jet jumped into his standard role. "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Do an arm gesture and pause for the cheers. " I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey." Give credit to one of the team, making everyone feel needed, pause to allow them to show off their might. "Now the Fire Nation thinks that they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees." Make the Fire Nation look like idiots, "Maybe they're right," now the dramatic pause, "Or maybe they are dead wrong." End it on a serious note that establishes the dominance of the Freedom Fighters.

I rolled my eyes as he jumped down from the table. If you listened closely you would realize that Jet's speeches, Jet's theatrics, were all the same. And I was too old to be impressed by anything he could say. His ideals had impressed me once, but that had been when I was eaten away by my own weakness. Plus hehad tracked mud across the table. It would end up my job to scrub it off. I think Jet was beginning to sense my growing disillusionment with him and his band of merry midgets.

"Hey Jet, nice speech." But it looks like the new kids were eating out of the palm of his hand. The girl stared up at Jet with a reverent hero worship. She had had that dumb look plastered to her face since she set foot here. I had seen how Jet had carried her up to our hideout. Her cheeks had glowed so brightly that a firebender could have used them as weapons. She was like a baby turtle duck following its mother. And Jet was playing it to his advantage.

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today." He was laying it on a little thick.

The girl turned away, smiling at the little bald kid that was her companion. "Well, he's great. He's the Avatar." She looked down modestly and blushed some more. "I could use some more training."

"Avatar huh? Very nice." Jet played with the stalk in his mouth, making a show at being thoughtful.

"Thanks Jet." The kid chirped. Despite claiming to be the avatar he positively glowed under the older boys praise.

"So I might know a way that you and Aang could help in our struggle." Of course he did. He had known a way in which they could be useful the moment he had brought them back to camp. Jet never did anything without reason.

The third kid finally broke his pout. "Unfortunately we have to leave tonight." He stood up and started to march off.

Of course, Jet could handle this. "Sokka you're kidding me. I need you on an important mission tomorrow." His voice raised in all the right the places.

And like an elephant rap in a trap the Sokka kid took the bait. "What mission?"

The rush of air as I snorted tickled my nose. There was no need for me to stay and watch this show play out. Whatever plan Jet had come up to woo the younger boy with would work. It always worked. Jet was nothing if not charismatic.

I retreated back into the shadows, giving the newest suckers to fall in Jet's clutches one last look as I went. The Avatar was chatting happily with The Duke. The kid looked like he didn't have a care in the world. It was hard to believe that _he_ was the Avatar. The skeptic, Sokka, was listening intently as Jet explained his scheme, his warriors not bobbing every time he shook his head. And the girl.

The girl was looking at me, her naïve blue eyes wide like saucers. I glared as fiercely as I could, waiting for her to look away, to stare down at her hands before I retreated back into the safety of the shadows.

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He didn't turn around again as she watched his retreat.

Katara gently touched Jet on the shoulder as soon as the stranger was out of hearing range. "Who's that?" She nodded in his direction with her chin.

Jet shook his head. "I don't see who you're talking about."

She pulled her hand off his arm and rested it in her lap, looking for the words to describe the boy. If that was what he was. He was defintaly older than her, maybe even older than Jet. It was hard to tell. It may have just been a trick of the shadows. That and he had seemed so… intense.

She looked back at Jet. "He only had one eye." One eye that shone gold despite the distance between them.

"Oh," Jet leaned back and chuckled. "That's just Lee. Glared at you did he?" Katara nodded silently. "Don't worry. He does that to everyone. I think he's just bitter that he can't fight. "

"Why can't he fight?" Aang's eyes were wide with surprise. He was still young enough that his every thought passed through his lips.

Jet chewed on the stalk in his mouth, as though considering whether or not to tell him. He looked meaningfully at Aang, then Katara.

"We don't know a lot about Lee. We found him lying near dead with half his face burned off. The healer we took him to said he'd be lucky if he still had use of that eye. We brought him back with us." Jet slumped forward, looking dejected. "He wasn't that lucky."

"Oh," Aang looked a confused. "Why can't he fight?"

"Put a hand over your eye." Aang did so. "Now let's pretend that you and I are in a fight. Ready?" Aang nodded. "Good."

Jet picked up a wooden cup, tossing it at Aang. The monk uses his free hand to knock the cup away. "Jet, I still don't understaAH!" Water splashed everywhere, running off of Aang's scalp and onto his tunic.

"See?" Jet waved to Smellerbee. "It makes you vulnerable. There was an old man in our town once who only had one eye. He always bumped into things. He'd swing at the more rambunctious kids but never hit any. That's what having only an eye will do to you."

Aang's expression turned. Katara glanced back into the shadows that had swallowed the boy.

"Well, if he doesn't fight then what does he do?" Sokka asked the pointed question intently.

"He's an awesome cook!" The Duke swallowed noisily. "He also helps out around the place, making sure stuff works. He's pretty clever. Almost as clever as Jet. Ow!" The boy rubbed where the rock had struck his helmet.

"No one's as clever as Jet. Dummy." Smellerbee went back to mangling her meal while The Duke pouted in her direction.

"Why'd ya do that?" The small boy stood as he demanded answers, stomping his foot to emphasize his point.

"Because you're stupid." Smellerbee hissed, not breaking eye contact with the fish she was consuming.

Katara drowned out the noise of the growing squabble, distracted by the growing shadows of the night.


	3. Jet 2

Ramshackle.

That was the only way to describe the small hut. That was the only way to describe any of the huts built by the Freedom Fighters. None of them were engineers or carpenters. They were just kids. Of course there would be nothing elegant about their designs.

But this hut was especially quaint. The most vivid object in the hut was empty, uncovered window. The only things to grace the walls were the rough patch jobs. The floor was empty save for a single bed.

Despite the scarcity of the décor the room felt full. It had a lot to do with the current situation, the two of us staring in tense silence, one in the doorway, the other on the thin bedspread.

"Why are you in my room?"

Jet leaned farther back onto my bed, setting one of his hands behind himself to hold his balance and using the other to play with the plant stem protruding from his mouth. "This is your room? I couldn't tell. I thought it was abandoned."

The tense silence stretched on, but was undermined by the calls of waking birds. Jet leaned a little farther back. "Where were you?"

I looked pointedly down at the basket in my hands, raising my brow. "I was picking dawn berries." I accentuate every word very carefully and clearly, just to make sure he hears me.

"This early?" He stares hard, as though his gaze could cause my deepest and darkest secrets to rise from the depths of consciousness to jump out my mouth.

Something like that _might_ have worked when I was a kid. "They're called _dawn_ berries for a reason."

He shifts, annoyed by my response. I don't care. I'm annoyed he's tracked mud onto my bed.

"Do you know why I'm here, Lee?"

"No." I'm not even sure that I care.

Jet rolled forward, hopping to his feet. "You were staring at the guests last night." He takes another step forward, trying to use the single inch he has over me to lean.

"Everyone was staring at the guests last night."

"Katara didn't like the way you were looking at her." He leans in even closer. Uncomfortably close. I can feel that stupid grass stalk tickling the tip of my nose, smell the fauna on his breath. "I didn't like the way you were looking at her last night."

"This is how I look at everyone." Katara? That must be the girl. Guess she went crying to her hero Jet to save her from the big bad monster.

The corner of Jet's mouth twitches. Upward.

"About that," he says in a friendly tone, rolling that stupid plat around in his mouth. "It wouldn't hurt to show a little appreciation, Lee." He places both his hands on my shoulders. "We did save your life. If it hadn't been for us you would have died like a sick dog. We took you in, patched you up. We take care of you, hunt for you, give you shelter and keep a roof over your head."

"And I help out around here." Like cook, clean and watch the younger kids while Jet is off playing soldier with his gang. I doubt Jet could name the kids who I'm looking after.

"Of course you do, Lee, but the thing is: we don't need you. If you decided to just back up and go one day we'd be fine." Jet slides his arm around my shoulder. I can't swat him away, as much as I'd like to, without dropping the basket I spent so much time trying to fill. He pulls me in tight, a mock of a friendly embrace. And of course he's on my left. When voice returns it floats through darkness. "But what about you, Lee? Could you make it without us? You don't have anywhere to go. You have no way of getting there." I can feel a slight tug on the bandages I wear over my face. "You are half blind and obviously scarred. If you can't fight in this world you don't stand a chance." Jet drops the friendly pretenses with his arm and circles back around to my front. "Shape up or I'll throw you out."

Then the wall is hurdling towards me. I slam into it, breath rushing out of my body as I hit. Then I'm on the ground, a pool of sticky wetness forming underneath me.

"Consider yourself warned, Lee."

Then the curtain swishes and I'm left alone with the sweet stench of berries soaking in my tunic and the soft sound of bells ringing in my ears.

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"Stop! Show yourself!"

I sighed and stepped out from behind the tree, feeling a faint blush creeping into my cheeks.

"Oh. It's you." His nose wrinkled. Lee looks like he'd just stepped in wolf droppings. I shrunk back a little farther. This was a bad idea. He watches me with a golden eye and snorts. "What do you want?" His voice was thick with disdain.

How dare he?

"I was taking a walk." That's right. I was going for a walk. I have the right to walk wherever I chose. And with Jet and Sokka gone, and Aang busy, it's not like there is anything else I should be doing.

"You were following me." Lee's tone is flat where I would have expected accusing.

"I just happened to be walking in the same direction." I raise my chin into the air and sniff, daring him to disagree with me.

He snorts again and spins. "Fine. Do as you like." Then he starts marching off again.

"Hey. Hey wait up!" I rush after him. "Hey." He doesn't even look at me as I catch up and match his stride. "Hi, I'm Katara."

He keeps looking forward, not evening turning flicking his glance my way. But he isn't chasing me away, so that's a good sign.

In fact, Lee seems content to ignore me completely. So I walk beside him in silence, using the time I can to study his profile. Not that I can see much. This side of his face is completely covered in loose white bandages, which come to a tapering stop just above his mouth, revealing his pale skin and what I guess is probably a permanent frown.

"So what's with the basket?" I circle around to his front, walking backwards so he can see me. It's tucked under his left arm. The thing looks like it's had some rough days. It's all bent out of shape and I'd swear there are singe marks on it. It's a pretty ragged.

"For berries," he grunts.

"Oh. Do you want some help?" It's not like I have anything better to do anyway. He glares at me again. "We'll get done in twice as fast." And maybe I can get him to loosen up a bit. He can't actually be as cranky as he seems.

I circle around to his right side, watching the war on his face. His shoulders climb to meet his ear and his crinkles with thought. "Fine," he mutters darkly.

"Great!" I circle around to his right side. "So what are the berries for? What type are we picking? Are they far?"

He lets out a quick gust of breath. "They're dawn berries." Talkative isn't he?

"So what are they for?" He did respond, so I must be making progress.

His shoulders stiffen up again. He mutters something incoherently.

"Pardon?"

He sighs again. "They're for Koko. It's her birthday."

That's so sweet of him! Though I'm sure he'd be embarrassed if I said anything. Lee is already sending my smile suspicious looks. "Well then, let's make sure that today is her best birthday yet."

He stares at me. When he sees me watching him watching me he turns away. Then he doubles his pace. As I stumble to keep up I catch his dark mutter. "Girls."

I can't help it. I giggle.

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"Ow!" I bite my tongue as I hear her cry out. Stupid girls. Stupid bothersome needy noisy girls. Ah! Why did I say she could come along?

"Lee! The plant bit me!" As though to punctuate her statement the flower I'm reaching into snaps shut, skinning the tips of my fingers.

I look down at my basket and can feel my nose wrinkling. It's a little over half full, but we won't be getting anymore. Maybe I can salvage a few from my earlier trip. "It's time to go back. It's too late in the day to pick any more." I listen to the soft pitter of the flowers snapping shut, forming a hard shell around the berries at their centre.

She stared up at me with her wide blue eyes, looking again like an animal caught off guard. "They're supposed to do this?"

"Yes." I heft up my basket as the girl tosses in her last handful. She stares at me with that bewildered expression. Oh Spirits, she isn't going to stop until I explain. "You can only pick the berries in the morning. When the plant gets too warm its flowers close. As you may have noticed they are hard and rather sharp. When the fruit is ready to spread the flowers fall away, but by that time the berries are no longer edible."

"Oh!" She smiles up at me. I bet some idiot told her that expression made her look cute. "So, if they are that much trouble to pick I bet they taste great."

"I don't like them."

"Really?" She looks stunned again. What use for her could Jet possible have?

"Really."

"Well, why?"

Spirits! Could she not be quiet for a moment! "They're too sweet."

"What's wrong with sweet?"

"I don't like it."

"Oh." Finally she lapses into silence. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her gawking at the forest. Well, she _is_ Water Tribe. There aren't any forests in the South Pole. I guess this must till be new for her.

I grab her arm and pull her closer to my side. "Hey, what gives?"

"Pot hole," I grunt and push her away again. The hideout is close, but with her dopey eyes staring at me like I was Jet it still feels forever away.

A/N-Okay, I feel only okay over this chapter. I don't know why, but I'm not super happy with it. *le sigh* life is so difficult. Well, I hope you guys like it.


	4. Jet 3

Sokka took a deep breath, trying to quiet the pounding of his heart. He needed to be able to hear over it. Jet was counting on him to help strike another blow against the Fire Nation. He wouldn't be able to do that if he couldn't hear the enemy over his own nerves.

Jet and his team began whistling birdcalls over the clearing, adding that much more noise to hear over. This was not working. Sokka reached for his dagger, slamming it into the trunk of the tree on which he was perched.

"What are you doing?" Jet was staring at him as though _he _was the crazy one.

"Sh. It amplifies vibrations." Sokka put his ear to the handle, cups his hands to make sure he was hearing only what the knife was telling him.

"Good trick." Jet nodded in appreciation.

"Nothing yet. Wait." Sokka closed his eyes, focusing on the faint vibration. "Yes! Someone's approaching."

"How many?"

"I think there's just one." Even then, it was still soft. Whoever it was had a light step.

"Good work Sokka. Ready your weapon." Jet stood, adjusting the grip on his hook swords, prepared to do real damage.

Sokka pulled the knife from the tree, feeling the comfort of its weight in his hands, exhaling in anticipation of battle. It caught in his chest as he saw the intended target. "Wait! False alarm." It was definitely not who they were waiting for. "He's just an old man."

Then Jet launched himself from the tree.

"What are you doing in our woods, you leech." He knocked the old man's cane away with a single stroke. It skittered off in to the bush.

"Please sir. I'm just a traveler." The old man even sounded feeble.

Sokka watched in growing horror as the rest of the Freedom Fighters dropped from the trees. The old man backed into Pipsqueak, flying forward as the giant pushed him hard into the ground.

"Do you like destroying towns? Do you like destroying families? Do you?" Jet's voice rose with every question, finishing on almost a hysterical note, like he needed the old man to say yes.

"Please," the old man murmured, "Please Blue Spirit save me!

"You're asking the Blue Spirit for help? You think he could take us? You're wrong! He's just a coward! He's jut as bad as the Fire Nation! As you!" Jet lifted his foot to deliver a blow that would probable crack the old man's ribs.

He stumbled as Sokka's club caught his foot. "Jet! He's just an old man!"

"He's Fire Nation!" Jet yelled again. "Search him!"

"But he's not hurting anyone!"

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your Mother?" Jet leaned in dangerously close, continuing to shout. "Remember why you fight!"

"We got his stuff Jet." Smellerbee held up the small pouch belonging to the villager.

Sokka stiffened his back. He wasn't going to agree to this. "This doesn't feel right."

"It's what has to be done." Jet's tone was quiet but hard. "Now let's get out of here."

Sokka watched as they passed, all looking as though they had did a good deed, as though they had actually struck a blow. He turned to the old man on his knees, feeling guilt as the man watched him with a helpless expression. He was the same age as Gran Gran, maybe older. She'd skin Sokka if she ever found out about this. She'd be right to do so.

"Come on Sokka." Jet's voice demanded his presence.

Sokka turned, allowing the woods to swallow him up and he tried to choke down his guilt.

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Sokka sat with his back against the trunk of the tree, his one leg drawn up to his chest. His face was dark and cloudy and he looked as though he wanted to be left alone to his dark mutterings. "Stupid Jet." His lips continued to move but no sound came out.

"What did he do this time?" I sit down beside Sokka. Or I try to.

He immediately moves to the side, as though under attack, rolling into a defensive crouch. "What did who do? Who wants to know? I didn't say anything!"

"Relax," I hold out the bowl in my hand. "Hungry?"

Sokka stares at the bowl as though it was booby-trapped. Sighing I set it down where he had been sitting, quietly sipping the tea I had made myself, watching the darkening of the evening skyline.

"What do you want?" Sokka rolls back, landing on his seat.

"Tea. And maybe someone to drink it with." He keeps watching me as though I'm about to jump him at any moment. "I'm Lee." I take another sip.

"Sokka." He creeps a little closer, picking up the bowl and sniffing it suspiciously.

"Its dawn berries and jelly candy." He raises an eyebrow. "Katara helped gather the berries. The candy is from the raid where Jet found you. Jelly candy, blasting jelly and the Avatar." It's a bit ironic.

I take another nonchalant sip. We sit there in silence, as much silence as you can get in a forest anyway, and watch as a lazy cloud drifts by.

"What do you think of Jet?" I feel a flash of surprise cross my face before I manage to clamp back down on my expression. Sokka's cleverer than I would have thought, testing the waters before running his mouth off.

Not that I would have ratted him out. I snort into my drink. "Jet's an ass. He's charming, but he's still an ass."

"Yeah…" Sokka let his voice trail back into silence. He fiddles with the spoon in the bowl, mashing the berries and candy together. "If you don't like him then why are you here?"

Now it's my turn to sit in silence. I watch the leaves swirling in the bottom of my cup. When they don't give me an answer I sigh. "Because I have no where else to go. And I'm safe here."

Sokka snorts. "Safe. Yeah right. Not with the Fire Nation about to burn down the forest."

Burn down the forest?

"Spirits Lee, are you okay?"

I look down at my empty hands, feeling heat spreading down my one leg, my teacup rolling to the side. I hiss as the liquid scalds, but it doesn't do much more than that. It wasn't that hot. "I'm fine." I knock Sokka's hands away as they try to dry the wound. "It was cool." Besides, there were more important things going on. "What do you mean 'burn the forest'?"

Sokka's eyes met mine, his gaze whetted by the situation. "Jet told Katara and Aang that they needed to stay to help him because tomorrow the Fire Nation was burning down the forest. You mean he hasn't told you?"

No, he hasn't. Nor has he told any of the children. That doesn't make any sense. I shake my head, my shaggy hair tickling my face as it lands. "That can't be it. He would have made plans for an evacuation, just in case." Jet was an ass but he wasn't stupid.

Sokka sighed, slumping back. "I was afraid of something like that. But what is he planning? Katara won't listen to me about Jet. I knew we couldn't trust him!" He leans back as he groans. "How am I supposed to convince her?"

My mind is frantic with possibility, rejecting plan after plan because of lack of time, lack of resources, lack of manpower. Then it stops on one. "Maybe you won't have to."

Sokka looks at me, his curiosity piqued.

"Come." I stand, offering a hand to help him up. "I have an idea."

* * *

A/N-Yes, Zuko has a scar. Having a Zuko without a scar is like having apple pie without apples. Just… no. But then how did he get such a scar even after not being in the palace with daddy dearest? Hmm? Well, I'm not telling you! Not yet, anyway. I did think about it and I do have an explanation planned, but I can't just tell you all now. Remember how long it took the series to explain Zuko's scar and angst? Its no fun if the story started off "once upon a time Zuko and his mummy ran from the palace. Then they met a charizard and Zuko threw rocks at it so the charizard went "argh," and blew fire all over Zuko's face,"[FYI, not what happened by any means]. So these things have been considered and they are being dealt with. And you will find out. You'll just find out later.


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